California is joining in a $16-million settlement...

California is joining in a $16-million settlement in a case brought in New York against Matsushita Electric Corp., parent of Panasonic Co., that accused Panasonic of fixing minimum prices for 16 consumer electronics products . . . Holly Farms Corp. will hold a shareholders’ meeting April 14 to consider ConAgra Inc.'s offer to buy the rival poultry processor in a $1-billion stock swap . . . Sony Corp. said it will begin manufacturing laser videodiscs in the United States under an agreement with Hollywood-based Image Entertainment, a videodisc distributor. The videodiscs will be marketed under the Image Entertainment name . . . Fisher Camuto Group said it was willing to top Merrill Lynch Capital Partners’ $422.5-million offer for U.S. Shoe Corp.'s footwear business, but U.S. Shoe said it would not pursue the overture . . . Consumers’ expectations fell slightly in February and a record number of consumers said they expect interest rates to continue rising over the year, according to a survey by the University of Michigan.